On Wednesday, April 15, Stony Brook University’s Department of Computer Science hosted the Honors Undergraduate Dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn in Stony Brook, NY. The event honored CS faculty and honors students, and also provided an opportunity for prospective students to meet with current students and professors and learn about the program.

“It's one of my favorite events of the year. The CS Honors students at SBU are truly fantastic, and it's nice to interact with them in a relaxed setting,” said Michael Bender, Associate Professor of Computer Science. “I ended up staying to chat with some of the students until quite late.” Bender also added that the dinner was very fun as it included many puzzles and games throughout the evening.

At the dinner, four students were awarded with a CS Honors Scholarship: Jake Christensen, Yiou Chen, Helen Xu, and Nolan Donoghue; and five students were awarded with the Schwartz Scholarship: Laura Pena, Jiajie Li, Allison Ng, Michael Lavina, and YuzheHu.

Christensen, a recipient of the CS Honors Scholarship, said, “the honors dinner itself was fun… It was a nice chance to interact with professors and other faculty outside of the classroom, as well as meet some of the honors students from other years.” He also added that it felt good to be recognized by the department and his professors.

Xu, a junior in Computer Science and Applied Math, was also a recipient of the CS Honors Scholarship. “I am grateful to have been recognized for the award because it supports my work and studies in the department…the award will support me in pursuing my research and coursework,” she said. Xu said her research interests include theoretical computer science, and she is currently working on a project that involves algorithms and data structures for external memory.

Lavina, a senior majoring in Computer Science, received the Schwartz Scholarship at the dinner. Lavina is a member of the Stony Brook Honors College and on the Computer Science Honors track.

“I think the award provided a great networking opportunity by not just being able to attend the Stars of Stony Brook Gala, but specifically being able to meet Mr. Schwartz,” Lavina said. “I was able to get his business cards and we have potential plans to meet later in the year for a more one on one. Having someone who so successful and experienced is an amazing thing and resource I don't think everyone has.”

Lavina said he is currently working on a project called ‘Smart Parking,’ which is an iOS mobile application designed to locate and display open parking lots on Stony Brook Campus. “The Honors award dinner was fantastic. I was able to speak to many interesting people and network,” Lavina added.